Long Life Puja Fund

The dance of the five dakinis is offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during long life pujas.

Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma) advised that FPMT centers include the dakinis’ request to the lama in the long life pujas arranged for Rinpoche

In the January-March 2015 print edition, Mandala magazine published a piece about the two long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche following the 2014 CPMT meeting in Australia this past September.

A tremendous amount of work, supplies and service goes into the organization of a long life puja and Mandala has done a wonderful job capturing some of the behind-the-scenes effort involved. In particular, you can read about what is needed for the dakinis’ request to the lama, which is offered with five dancers in full costume. Following Lama Zopa Rinpoche manifesting a stroke in 2011, Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma) advised that FPMT centers include the dakinis’ request to the lama in the long life pujas arranged for Rinpoche.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche reciting the Names of the 35 Buddhas during the Long Life Puja at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven.Roger Kunsang.

From November 29 – December 7, 2014, Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught at the lam-rim retreat at Kopan Monastery, known as the November Course. The November Courses have been taking place at Kopan for more than 40 years. Many of FPMT’s senior students first met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche attending one of these retreats. For three years in the seventies, two courses were offered every year and this year’s course was number 47!

The Kopan gompa was packed with participants in the long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo by Bill Kane.

At the conclusion of the course, Kopan Monastery offered Lama Zopa Rinpoche an elaborate long life puja, including the traditional five dakini offering, on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. You can enjoy many beautiful photos of this joyous occasion at Bill Kane’s Facebook gallery of this event.

Thank you to all the kind donors who made this offering possible.

The Long Life Puja Fund always contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You are welcome to contribute at any time. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.

Ian Green thanking Rinpoche on behalf of the entire retreat and the three centers hosting, and requesting Rinpoche to continue the teachings.

At the conclusion of the recent retreat in Australia, inside the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, all of the participants and many others offered a beautiful and moving long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on October 23.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche being led into the long life puja.

At the beginning of the puja Rinpoche was led into the stupa by a local aboriginal elder playing the didgeridoo and two geshes, Geshe Doga from Tara Institute, Melbourne and Geshe Wangchen from Dorje Chang Institute, New Zealand.

The entire stupa was filled with people and it was a very joyous occasion and ending to an incredible retreat.

Amitabha Buddha Center will be offering a long life puja to Rinpoche in Singapore later this month and at the end of the annual November course at Kopan Monastery a long life puja will be offered to Rinpoche in December.

The five dakini dance was offered to Rinpoche.

Please rejoice in all of these recent long life pujas offered and planned for Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

To understand why a long life puja is essential, we must understand the value of the Guru. He is our guide in this life, the bardo, and future lives. He is immensely important. It is not a case where if we ask him to live he will, and vice-versa, but that to offer such a ceremony purifies our own broken samayas.

—Geshe Lama Konchog

You can learn more about the Long Life Puja Fund and offer your support to long life pujas for Lama Zopa Rinpoche as well as His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during long life puja with Geshe Doga, Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, September 19, 2014. Photo by Laura Miller.

Five dakini dancers entering the gompa, Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, September 19, 2014. Photo by Laura Miller.

Each year, a long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche is offered on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. This puja takes place at the close of the yearly Kopan lam-rim course, or at the end of a CPMT meeting. This year, it was offered following the CPMT 2014 meeting.

A beautiful collection of praises and requests from FPMT centers, projects and services around the world were read aloud to Lama Zopa Rinpoche by regional and national coordinators who were present:

“We offer this praise to you Rinpoche, on behalf of all of your disciples throughout the world. We offer this praise on behalf of all sentient beings, who wander like blind children at the edge of the perilous cliffs of samsara, certain to fall to our deaths without your guidance….”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered an extensive dedication at the end of the puja, including all the people working within the FPMT organization and all FPMT centers, projects and services around the world.

The purpose of the long life puja is for students to purify the mistakes that occur in relation to their teacher, and to create the causes and conditions to continue to receive benefit from that teacher for a very long time. Please rejoice that we can make this offering and may it create the cause for our most precious Guru to have a very long long life.

You can contribute anytime towards future long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche:

Remember the Guru’s Kindness

By Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The following advice was given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in response to requests by students to help them understand how best to prolong the life of the guru, and how to avoid obstacles that can cause him sickness and a shortened life. Previously published in Mandala, April 1989.

Most important is to remember with feeling the guru’s kindness and to follow his advice; then to remember one’s mistakes and confess them.

Long-life pujas purify negative karma and accumulate merits (generally speaking life can be lengthened by accumulating merit). But the best kind of long-life puja is not just the ritual but to cherish the advice, with the thought correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, and looking at the guru from one’s own side to be the Buddha and remembering his kindness; feeling regret for not practicing properly in the past and making a decision to practice better in the future: generally speaking, in the ordinary sense, to be a better person.

The heaviest effect on the guru’s life is degenerating or breaking the first root tantric vow, i.e. when belittling the guru (meaning giving him up as an object of respect). Also having anger or heresy to arise in the mind toward the guru, particularly heresy. When there is heresy, the mind is barren like a desert, having no faith and nothing can grow. This can cause the holy mind to be disturbed, like a sadness.

Sometimes there can be students who request secret tantric teachings, and not having devotion can cause the guru (in the context of very secret teachings) to break samaya, because the teacher has difficulty to say no. But if the student has the sincere thought to try to develop and keep the vows, etc. then it’s good, although, of course, it may be difficult to keep all the vows because the student’s mind has not even the realization of impermanence and death!

Harmonious sincerity in obtaining advice can inspire the guru, giving him the interest to have the intention to pray in an attempt to have a longer life, even if from the guru’s side there is not the complete capability to control the elements.

It is important to be aware that the student’s breaking of the root tantric vows, samaya and so forth is also a danger for themselves, resulting in sickness and even their lives to be shortened, not to mention suffering in future lives. But of course, as explained in the teachings, any degeneration or breaking of the three levels of vow can be purified through confession, etc.

So these things can cause the guru to take disease and pass away early; this is a dependent arising. This can happen because of the karma of the group, e.g. [they are] my gurus, they don’t have karma but they can show [the] appearance.

In conclusion, a lot depends on how well the student practices Dharma, how much self-cherishing thought there is which causes harm to oneself and others!

I don’t think the problem has so much to do with the fact that the students don’t know what is the cause of the guru taking disease and passing away early. For some students the cause is not being thoughtful and not taking the opportunity to change the life for the better, i.e. not putting the teachings into practice.

Dagri Rinpoche offering to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.

Ven. Sarah Thresher provided us with the following report on a beautiful long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India.

Losar started very early morning with Yamantaka and Palden Lhamo prayers before dawn. Dagri Rinpoche stayed over at Root Institute to join Rinpoche for the prayers. Before dawn the monks served early morning Tibetan tea and kapse.

After breakfast people began arriving for the long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested by Dagri Rinpoche and Root Institute. Representatives from various Indian centers and the two Maitreya Projects in Bodhgaya and Kushinagar led Rinpoche into the gompa. Rinpoche went first to offer body, speech and mind to the decorated throne of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and then the throne of Lama Yeshe. This Losar was the 30th anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s passing away.

Dagri Rinpoche and Keutsang Rinpoche both took part in the Losar long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Dagri Rinpoche and Keutsang Rinpoche both took part in the puja along with several rows of monks from Sera Je Monastery. Even though Bodhgaya is not busy now, the gompa was full with people showing up from all over to pray for the guru’s long life. Following the tsog offering, Rinpoche took the microphone and began teaching. First, he explained how important these fifteen days of Losar are, the days that commemorate Buddha displaying miracles to subdue the Tirthika teachers, because at this time merit multiplies many 100 millions of times. Rinpoche commented that for lazy people like himself (!) it was an opportunity to make up for time lost the rest of the year when no practice was done.

Rinpoche then continued with a beautiful talk about the qualities of Lama Yeshe and the importance of the guru. He quoted Padampa Sangye who advised, “Cherish the guru more than the Buddha and realizations will come in this lifetime.” Rinpoche described some of the obvious qualities of Lama Yeshe, his always loving aspect that attracted everyone to him, his humility, his wisdom, and Rinpoche explained that Lama was known by all to be a great scholar. Rinpoche then mentioned that Lama Yeshe was also a great yogi who had the tantric realizations of clear light and illusory body but that he hid these profound practices by meditating while lying down during his regular afternoon “nap.” Rinpoche said that whatever benefit the FPMT had been able to offer and however much we ourselves had been able to learn and practice, it was all due to Lama Yeshe’s kindness because it was Lama who set up the organization.

Then Rinpoche praised the director of Root Institute, Ven. Trisha, for her devotion to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and compassion, which meant the center was harmonious and able to benefit sentient beings greatly.

Following the puja, lunch was offered on the lawn and the three lamas sat outside for a long leisurely lunch discussing Dharma.

Please rejoice that another sincere request for Rinpoche’s long life has been made on behalf of FPMT.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche making offerings for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s long life at the conclusion of this year’s Jangchub Lam-Rim teaching event at Sera Je Monastery.

FPMT had the incredible fortunate to make offerings for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the conclusion of this year’s Jangchub Lam-Rim teaching event at Sera Je Monastery. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was present and offered a giant silver Dharmachakra, a beautiful White Tara thangka made of pearls, and over US$20,000 on behalf of all FPMT centers, projects and services.

Each year FPMT is committed to arrange or be an official benefactor for His Holiness’ long life puja. Over twenty years ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested for this to happen annually. Please rejoice!

Lama Zopa Rnpoche with the exquisite long life thangka made with pearls which offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Tremendous thanks to everyone who contributed to this wonderful long life offering. You can donate anytime to the Long Life Puja Fund for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Dagri Rinpoche making offerings to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the long life puja offered to Rinpoche at Land of Medicine Buddha, September 2013.

Following the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Land of Medicine Buddha, CA, USA, on September 29, 2013, Rinpoche offered US$12,106, toward the completion of two stupas being build in California.

If you build stupas or statues to inspire people, without even teaching Dharma, for however many hundreds and billions of years the holy object lasts, it continues to liberate many sentient beings every day, freeing them from the lower realms, causing them to actualize the path liberating them from samsara and bringing them to enlightenment. Even if after you die you are in another universe, in the hell realms or a pure land, wherever you are the stupa or statue that you built is continually benefiting sentient beings. It is incredible how you can continually benefit sentient beings by having built a stupa.

Over 1,000 monks and several hundred international students participated in a long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, December 22, 2013 at Drati Khantsen, Sera Je Monastery, India.

On December 22, 2013 at the conclusion of this year’s oral transmission of Most Secret Hayagriva given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Sera Je Monastery’s Drati Khangtsen in India offered a long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Ven. Roger Kunsang, CEO of FPMT and assistant to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, made strong request for Rinpoche’s long life and made an offering on behalf of the whole FPMT organization during the puja. There were over 1,000 monks and several hundred international students in attendance, including 70 FPMT centers represented and about 17 FPMT Geshes.

Please rejoice in this amazing offering, please make prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long and healthy life so we may always be guided by his perfect example.

If you would like to donate to this fund, which sponsors long life pujas for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, you may do so at any time.